Collar-pouch.



Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

f/EJ- /N\/ENTUR- 5, 1

GEORGE LEWIS OSGOOD, 0F AYER, MASSACHUSETTS.

COLLAR-POUCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

Application filed September 22, 1917. Serial 1Y0. 182,796.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon Lnwrs OsGooD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ayer, in the county of .Middlesex. and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inCollar-Pouches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention-has for its object to pro vide a holder for laundriedcollars, adapted to securely confine curved collars in a compact bundle,and to be stored in a drawer, traveling bag, or other receptacle,without occupying unnecessary space.

The invention is embodied in the improvements which I will now proceedto describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure l is a side view .of a collar pouch embodying the invention, thepouch being opened.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a side view showing the pouch closed.

Fig. i is a top view showing the pouch opened, the flap and lininghereinafter referred to being removed.

Fig. 5 is a top view of the pouch as shown by Fig. 4, the pouch beingclosed.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

My improved pouch includes an elongated U-shaped body strip which isflexible, so that its ends may be drawn toward each other to close thepouch, as indicated by Fig. 3, and separated to open the pouch, asindicated by Fig. l. The body strip is preferably stiffer than the sidepieces hereinafter described, so that it offers suitable resistance topressure tending to bend it crosswise. I prefer to make the body stripof at least two layers 12 and 12 the external layer 12 being of anysuitable material, such as thin cloth or leather, and the internal layer12 being preferably of a stiffer material, such as buckram, which may betreated with a stiffening composition.

1 The body strip is somewhat wider than the collars, and its relativestiffness enables it .to aid in resisting pressure tending to bend itcrosswise.

To the opposite edges of the body'strip are stitched the side pieces 13,each of which is a piece of flexible material, such as cloth or thinleather, the side pieces being preferably more flexible than the bodystrip.

Each side piece hassubstantially straight and parallel edge portions,and an intermedlate arcuate edge portion. The body strlp has parallellongitudinal edges which are stitched to the said edges of the sidepieces, so that when the mouth portion of the pouch is expanded, and theside pieces are substantially flat, the body strip, confined by the sidepieces, has an arcuate central portion and end portions which aresubstantially straight and parallel with each other. The arcuate centralportion of the body strip is adapted to conform to a portion of" theperiphery of a roll composedof a starched collar or collars. Theparallel end portions of the body strip projecting above said arcuateportion are adapted to limit the expansion of said roll, so that theends of the collars are not liable to spring upward into the mouthportion of the pouch. A roll of collars compactly formed'beforeinsertioninto the pouch is retained, therefore, in substantially the samecompactform by the parallel end portions of the body strip while themouth portion of the pouch is being closed upon said roll, ashereinafter described.

The upper edge portion of each side piece is creased so that when. thepouch is open,

the upper edges of the side pieces havethe zig-zag formation shown byFig. 4e, and are prepared for conversion into the bellows folds, shownby Fig. 5, by the operation of drawing the ends of 'thebody strip towardeach other; This operation, therefore, closes the mouth of the pouchupon a roll of collars, the displacement of the side pieces being inwardso that the width of the pouch is not increased by the operation ofclosing its mouth.

I provide means for detachably connecting the end portions of the bodystrip to hold the mouth closed, said means being preferably embodied ina flexible flap 14 attached to oneend of the body strip and providedwith socket members 15 of ordinary snap fasteners, and stud members 16of said fasteners attached to the body-strip near the end opposite thatto which theflap is attached; The socket members 15 are adapted toengage the stud members 16 and thus confine the pouch in the conditionsshown by Fig. 3.

The pouch may be conveniently closed by a drawstring 18 bearing on oneend portion of the body strip, and'passing through a pair of eyelets 19at said end, a pair of eyelets 20 at the opposite end of the body strip,and

portion of the body strip having the eyelets 20, and are adapted to begrasped and pulled by the operator. The arrangement of the eyelets andstring is such that when the ex tended portion of the string is pulledupwardly from the osition shown by Fig. 1, the end portions 0 the bodystrip are drawn toward each other and bellows folds are formed in theupper edge portions of the side pieces, as shown by Fig. 5. V

The draw string may be knotted or tied as at 18 Fig. 5, to hold thepouch closed, so that the flap 14 may be dispensed with. I prefer,however, to employ both the drawstring and flap, the string beingemployed to close the mouth of the pouch and its extended portion leftloose and'partly covered by the flap, and confined between the fasteningmembers, as shown by Fig. 3, said members being spaced apart to permitsaid extended portion to depend and be confined between them. V

The pouch'may be provided with a lining 23 of suitable fabric such assilk, formed as a bag stitched at its mouth to the mouth of the pouchand hanging loosely within the pouch.

To avoid confusion, the lining is omitted from Figs. 4 and 5.

Additional stud members 1e may be provided between the members 16 andthe adjacent end of the body strip to engage the members 15 on the flap,when the pouch is filled to substantially its maximum capacity.

The end portions. of the body strip constitute relatively stifi parallelguides adapted to direct a rollof collars to a bearing on the arcuatecentral portion of the body strip, when the mouth of the pouch isexpanded, and relatively stili roll-confining members adapted to holdthe roll against the said arcuate portion, when the mouth of the pouchis contracted.

The body strip 12 forms the bottom of the pouch and its end portionsform two opposed relatively narrow pouch walls. The side pieces 13 formtwo opposed wider walls.

the upper ends of said walls form an oblong mouth, permitting theconvenient insertion of a roll of collars, said mouth being normallyheld open by the stiffness of the body strip. The depth of the pouchfrom mouth to bottom is greater than'the length Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents,

of the mouth,so that the upper portion of a roll deposited on saidbottom is below the mouth. Provision is therefore made for contractingthe month by inclining the end por tions of the body strip toward eachother. This operation causes the formation of the inwardly projectingbellows folds on the creased upper portions of the side pieces. asindicated by Fig. 5, said folds being wholly between the end portions ofthe body strip, so that they are protected against wear by chafingcontact with other articles in a bag in which the pouch may be placed.

Iclaim:

A. collar pouch having an expansible and contractible mouth portion,said pouch comprising flexible side pieces having substan tiallystraight and parallel edge portions and intermediate arcuate edgeportions, a rel atively stiff body strip having parallel edges united toand confined by the side pieces, so that the said strip has an arcuatecentral portion and end portions which are substantially straight andparallel with each other when'the mouth portionis expanded, whereby thebody strip is adapted to prevent the uni-oiling of a roll of collarsresting on said central portion, the upper edge portions of the sidepieces being creased to form bellows folds when the mouth portion iscontracted,

the body strip being provided ateach of its end portions with a pair ofeyelets, and the upper edge portions of the side pieces belng providedwith rows of eyelets, a draw-string bearing on one end portion of thebody strip and passing through said eyelets, portions of said stringbeing extended outwardly from the opposite end of the body strip andadapted to be manipulated to draw the end portions of the body striptoward each other and contract the mouth portion of the pouch, and aflap attached to one end of the body strip, the free end of said flapand the opposite end portion of the strip being provided with pairs ofspaced apart complemental fastening members whereby the fiap may becaused to connect the end portions of the body strip and maintain thecontraction of the mouth portion of the pouch, the extended portions ofthe draw-string beingadapted to depend between said fastening memberswhen the mouth portion is contracted.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature. r

GEORGE nwrs oseoo'n Washington. D. G.

